GETTING YOUR IMAGES TO WORK HARDER FOR YOU

Let's talk images. They're not just eye candy for your site; they're key players in the SEO game. But optimizing them with alt tags, captions, and descriptions can feel like a chore. Who has time for that?

But who doesn't want the benefit of gaining possible traffic from organic visits? This is what you can possibly lose the benefit of by not making the effort for the extra work.

So, in this post, we're going from zero to an increase in multiples by inviting you to learn the nitty-gritty of image SEO.

Key Takeaways ↑

• The SEO impact of your images: We'll explain how proper labeling can make your images discoverable and drive traffic.
• Beyond the basics: We'll go beyond alt tags and explore other elements that make your images stand out to search engines.
• Integration with your content strategy: How to ensure your images align with your content to reinforce your message.

And don't worry. We'll keep this post practical and actionable, so you can get your images up to speed without it becoming another full-time job.

WHY ALT TAGS MATTER ↑

Alt tags are short text descriptors within an image—or tag—that describe the content of an image on a web page. These tags, also known as “alt attributes” or “alt descriptions,” serve a dual-purpose function: they assist the robots sent out by search engines to^[1] understanding the content of the image you're posting, and they provide alternative text when an image is not displayed.

Consider alt tags as a bridge between your images and search engines like Google. By automatically adding alt tags to your pictures, you not only enhance the accessibility of your content but also make a significant contribution to your SEO strategy. Here's why:

ENHANCED USER EXPERIENCE Alt tags improve the overall user experience of your website. There are times when images fail to load due to slow internet connections or other issues. Users can still grasp the image's context with alt tags since they show up on the screen, therefore allowing the user to continue reading. This keeps visitors engaged and reduces bounce rates.

SEO BOOST Search engines deploy robots to crawl your website, relying on various signals to comprehend your content. Alt tags provide these signals by describing what the image portrays, thus improving the indexing and ranking of your web pages.

BENEFITS BEYOND IMAGES ↑

While alt tags primarily describe images, their impact extends to your entire content. Here's how they benefit the broader context of your posts and pages:

CONTENT RELEVANCE Alt tags reinforce the relevance of your content, and therefore, enable search engines to understand the context of your images better. Algorithms heap robots align them with the text, and enhancing the overall topic relevance.

IMPROVED ORGANIC VISIBILITY By contributing to the relevance of your content, alt tags indirectly influence the ranking of your entire page. Competing for a spot on the coveted first page of search results is strategic, and alt tags are one of the many ways to improve your odds.

ACCESSIBILITY COMPLIANCE Alt tags are crucial for making your website accessible to individuals with disabilities, going beyond SEO. Embracing inclusivity shows that you're thinking broadly, which can lead to opening your reach with a more diverse and engaged audience.

We have written an article exploring images and accessibility compliance and invite you to read it, “Empowering Inclusivity: The Role of Alt Tags in Web Accessibility”.

IMAGE ALT TEXT BEST PRACTICES ↑

Creating effective alt text for images is crucial for accessibility and SEO. Different types of images require tailored approaches:

• Decorative Images: For purely aesthetic images like backgrounds, borders, or icons, use an empty alt attribute (alt=""). This signals screen readers and search engines to bypass the image, reducing clutter.
• Informative Images: Images like diagrams, charts, or maps that convey key information should have descriptive alt text. For instance, alt= "Map outlining regional sales distribution" succinctly conveys the content and relevance of the image.
• Brand Assets: For your logo, use the opportunity to brand your messaging,alt=" Welcome to Box of Organic Fresh"
• Interactive Elements: For images serving as buttons, links, or forms, the alt text should describe the action and outcome, such as alt= "Submit button for monthly newsletter sign-up".
• For Graphics and Images That Illustrate Your Post or Article: Use the additional opportunity to include keywords that will strengthen the weight of keyword usage; however, do not stuff keywords here. This can hurt your SEO opportunity.

WRITING DESCRIPTIVE AND CONCISE ALT TEXT ↑

When writing alt text for images, keep these tips in mind:

• Purpose Over Appearance: Describe what's happening rather than how things look. For example, write “a sunny day at the beach” instead of “a blue sky with clouds.”
• Relevant Keywords: Use important keywords that fit naturally. Choose “a dog enjoying a summer day wearing sunglasses and a hat” over “a dog glasses hat.”
• Concise and Clear: Keep your alt text under 256 characters ^[2], and don't repeat information that's already available on the page or in captions. “Sales by product category Q3 2020” gets straight to the point.
• Grammar and Style: Write clearly, using correct punctuation and grammar. Stay away from slang and keep the tone consistent throughout.

While these guidelines are straightforward, many content creators struggle with time constraints or require assistance in populating alt text. For further organization tips, [refer to our post on managing images and alt tags].

MAXIMIZING YOUR CONTENT WITH IMAGE SEO ↑

Image SEO is a process of optimizing images to rank well in search engine results. It involves adding relevant and descriptive text, such as alt tags, captions, and descriptions, which directly increase your site's visibility or provide context to search engines about your post or article for indexing. How might it get you ranked on browsers, you might ask? Alt tags, also known as alternative text, serve the following SEO benefits:

• Content Identification: Ensure the text accurately depicts the image, like “A slice of chocolate cake with whipped cream and cherries on top” for an image of a chocolate cake.
• Accessibility and UX Improvement: Provide alternative ways to access image information for users with visual impairments or slow internet connections. Alt tags should be meaningful when read aloud ^[3].
• SEO Enhancement: Increase the likelihood of your image and content appearing in search results and attracting clicks, such as including descriptive text for a “chocolate cake recipe” image file and alt tag.

While crucial, manually adding text to numerous images can be daunting.

ORGANIZING YOUR SEO EFFORTS

To manage this efficiently, consider:

• Using Spreadsheets: Track your images and corresponding alt text, captions, and descriptions. This helps maintain consistency and saves time during updates. We provide a simple spreadsheet to get you started.
• Leveraging CMS Features: Many content management systems offer bulk editing tools for alt text, making it easier to update multiple images at once:
  • Squarespace provides you with a user-friendly interface where you can manually add alt text to images ^[4].
  • Wix provides manual entry to help you manage alt text for SEO ^[5]
  • WordPress offers three ways to manually add alt tags ^[6]Hostinger, one of our recommended partners, has an excellent step by step post on how to choose the best way for your needs.

These platforms help streamline the process of adding alt text, ensuring that images are accessible and SEO-friendly.

Other platforms may also have similar functionalities, either built-in or available through third-party plugins, to assist with alt text automation. It's always a good practice to check the specific platform's app store or plugin directory for the latest tools that can help with SEO and accessibility.

By organizing your SEO tasks, you can streamline the optimization process and ensure your images are contributing to strengthening your hard work as a content creator.

AUTOMATING ALT TAGS ON VARIOUS PLATFORMS ↑

SEO is a vital component of your image strategy. While manually adding alt text to images is necessary for content management, it can be laborious, particularly for websites with extensive image galleries.

• Shopify: Shopify has several apps and tools that can automate alt text for images, most for a fee or low cost option. For example, “Alt Optimize Pro” is an app that enhances SEO and accessibility by automatically updating alt texts for product images.^[7] Another tool, “AI Alt Text Generator – AltText.ai,” automatically generates SEO-optimized alt text for product and blog images in your store.^[8]
• Wix: The “SEO Assistant” tool can generate title tag and meta description suggestions for your web pages, which can be a part of optimizing alt text for images.^[9]
• WordPress, our area of extensive expertise, provides a variety of alt tag plugins.^[10] While many are free and offer substantial functionality, options for premium upgrades exist for those seeking additional features.

Automating Alt Tags On Image Upload To Your WordPress Site ↑

Box of Organic Fresh has developed a WordPress function that automates alt text addition to streamline this process. As experienced WordPress site developers, we designed this function to save the maximum amount of time. Read “Efficiency Unleashed: Automating Alt Tags in WordPress” where we explain it more.

In Conclusion: Image SEO Is Essential ↑

Alternative tags are not just about getting the technical details right; it's about making sure your content is seen and understood. Alt tags and proper image descriptions are the backbone of this process, helping search engines and users alike to find and interpret your visual content.

Good image SEO practices can lead to better search rankings, more traffic, and a smoother user experience. It's about making your site more accessible to everyone, which is not just good practice—it's good business.

Remember, every image on your site is an opportunity. With the right approach to SEO, those opportunities can turn into real results. So, keep your alt tags descriptive, your file names relevant, and your content organized. Your efforts will pay off with a stronger online presence and a better experience for your visitors.

Suggested Reading and Article Research Credit ↑

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